


you're vicious, just like me

by softarchie



Category: Archie Comics & Related Fandoms, Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Archie Andrews Needs a Hug, Betty Cooper is Afraid of a Lot, Childhood Friends, Completed, Drama, F/M, Friends to Lovers, Post-Canon, Prom, True Love, barchie
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-08
Updated: 2020-09-30
Packaged: 2021-03-04 00:34:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 18,986
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24604762
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/softarchie/pseuds/softarchie
Summary: “I love Jughead. And you love Veronica…right?”Tell me I’m right. Tell me I’m not the one you want just like you did that first dreadful night. Tell me again so I can finally move on.Hesitation formed in Archie’s eyes. It made everything worse.ORIn which Betty doesn’t want to hurt anyone except herself, Archie doesn’t know how to stop hurting, and neither of them are ready to heal each other.Until they are.
Relationships: Archie Andrews & Veronica Lodge, Archie Andrews/Betty Cooper, Betty Cooper & Jughead Jones, Cheryl Blossom/Toni Topaz, Fangs Fogarty/Kevin Keller
Comments: 38
Kudos: 163





	1. Distractions

For as long as Betty Cooper remembered, she had feelings for Archie Andrews.

Feelings seemed like such a simple word, too simple to explain the tumultuous thoughts and emotions that stirred in her heart near his presence. When she was younger these feelings were as pure as snow. Her childhood was defined by her friendship with Archie. He was in all of her diaries, all of her pictures, and all of her fondest memories.

Of course back then she was convinced she loved him. How could she not? It was them against the world. He had already proposed. They lived in their own perfect bubble, with all the confidence that they would stay that way for the rest of their lives.

As she got older, things slowly started to change. That love she felt for him never did. They hadn’t officially dated, but in her mind they eventually would. Archie was everything to her, and she knew he felt the same way, even if he was a bit more hesitant now to say it.

Gone was the boy who got on one knee outside her house with a red, plastic ring, asking for her hand in marriage. Archie had morphed into another form. Much more strong, much more self assured, but under all that packaging was still her Archie. Funny, kind, talented, Archie. The type who cared too much, Archie. The one who’d do anything for her, Archie.

Looking back, it was a wonder how she could have ever avoided falling for him.

And that was where the trouble began. Because she could never, ever, _truly_ , resist him. Loving Archie was as easy as breathing air. And as necessary. Betty didn’t know how to live in a world without him.

As their perfect bubble was pierced by two other people their relationship also took a big hit. But that was all right, because by then Betty was determined that the love she felt for him was the love of a best friend and nothing more. It couldn’t be anything else because he had decided that for them. It didn’t matter that in their summer apart she came to the conclusion that she must be _in_ love with him, because he ended that possibility before it began.

Archie turned her down. Archie chose Ms. Grundy, and then Veronica over her. He loved her all right – he would always love her. But he would also always be afraid to get too close. Too scared to be with perfect Betty. Too scared to ruin their perfect friendship. Too scared to destroy their perfect bubble.

And wasn’t that the greatest tragedy of them all? Their perfect bubble popped as soon as they entered new relationships. They were still best friends. They would never let anything come in between them. He was still the most important person in her life, whether she’d admit it to others or not. But if Betty was being honest, she missed when it was just the two of them. She missed spending time with him as much as she used to, before her life became a series of misfortunate events which included jumping from one crime mystery to another.

At the start, solving mysteries was just the thing she needed. School work wasn’t doing enough to distract her from the thoughts of a certain rejection that replayed in her mind over and over again until her soul bled and her bones felt like molten glass. Until she cried out all her jealousy and hurt onto her pillow. It was so easy to pour all her time and energy into something that required her undivided attention.

She certainly didn’t expect to gain a relationship from it, but that was just another plus. Being with Jughead made things easier for all of them. She no longer needed to worry about who Archie was with because she had her own boyfriend.

And she only loved Archie as a friend. (Because she could only love him as a friend).

That allowed for the possibility of a new love to form, and she had graciously gifted those feelings to Jughead Jones. Things were not always smooth. He and her were not very alike. But she had recently acquired a gift for sleuthing, and in a town like Riverdale, that skill they shared was never not in high demand. As long as something was wrong in Riverdale, they had something which connected them, and she had something to distract her.

Distractions were what Betty needed right now, she thought as she lay down next to Archie. Without a distraction she had no choice but to look reality in the eye.

Obviously, no one forced her to come here. She chose to meet with Archie rather than help Jughead with his current mission. Her boyfriend had simply nodded in acceptance, too preoccupied with other thoughts to realize that this was the first time she had said no to solving a mystery with him.

And why had she said no? Maybe because this was the first time the person she was trying to distract herself from wanted to see her in a different light. After their first kiss, they didn’t ever discuss it. Instead, they pretended like it hadn’t happened at all. Like it meant nothing. The second time they kissed, they had an excuse. That excuse didn’t explain why she felt sparks when his lips touched hers. Or why she leaned in for more.

The last time they kissed, Betty and Archie cheated.

Cheated.

What an ugly word.

She couldn’t correlate the happiness she felt when they kissed with that word in her mind. If Betty and Archie kissed out of lust it would have been an easier pill to swallow. The truth was that kiss was a culmination of repressed feelings on her part. It was a kiss that said, “Finally! What took you so long?” and “Hi. My feelings are still true and still here, deep in my heart where I’ve buried them.”

It was a kiss that shook the foundations of her carefully constructed life.

“Archie, why are we here?”

He was lying next to her, close enough to touch. Close enough to know better. “I don’t know. But it’s nice, right?”

Nice was appropriate for drinking milkshakes at Pops. What Betty felt now was fear, and worry, and despite her reluctance, excitement. Betty felt as if she had been drowning, and only now resurfaced for air.

“It is, but it’s not like we can do anything more than this.”

“What do you mean? We’re just hanging out,” Archie replied slowly.

She blinked. Was he deep in denial about what they were really doing or was this whole thing meaningless to him?

Betty began to feel stupid. If she was the only one fantasizing about doing more, this was humiliating. She didn’t think she could’ve felt more embarrassed than the night he had rejected her outside her house, but here she was, still chasing after him only to feel hurt.

“I love Jughead,” she replied, throwing that line out there in the open to rebalance herself. She had Jughead. He loved her.

A pause. “And I love Veronica.”

“But this is nice, right?” he repeated the question, turning his head to look at her. She looked back, her lips twitching up on their own volition.

There were so many things left unsaid. So many words stuck in her throat, and swimming in his soft brown eyes.

His hand touched hers, and she almost jumped. Then she reached out with two fingers, brushing against the side of his palm. Invitingly. Pleadingly.

Their fingers intertwined. Her words died in her throat.

* * *

The next night they met, Betty was in a different mind space. They had decided to take some time apart after confessing that they couldn’t stop thinking about each other. She had to admit it was a relief to hear that from him. However, there will still seeds of doubt in her mind, watered by Cheryl’s unwanted advice.

To a spectator who had only seen Betty date one person, it seemed obvious that her relationship with Jughead was more real than the feelings she had for her best friend. To Cheryl, Betty had been in love with the idea of Archie rather than the person himself. Betty doubted it, but it was a legitimate theory.

A little part of her had been in love with Archie for ten years. That little part of her, also called her _heart_ , fought against her head, which argued that Cheryl was right. She had never dated Archie. She had dated Jughead. So how could she be in love with Archie more than her boyfriend? It didn’t seem logical. It didn’t seem fair. It definitely wasn’t something that people would expect of good girl Betty Cooper.

But here she was, feeling in love with the boy who had rejected her over the boy who had picked up the pieces of her shattered heart.

She was going to hell, Betty thought as she watched Archie perch on the bed with his guitar in hand. She couldn’t stop herself from smiling. This was worth going to hell for.

“It’s a song I wrote,” Archie said, shyly ducking his head. Then his head lifted, and his eyes met hers determinedly, as if he wanted to make sure she got the point. “For you.”

Betty lost herself in the lyrics of the song, all the while thinking of the last time he presented a song to her. She felt tears coming to her eyes, just like they had in the past. Nothing could ever be easy, could it?

_She’s not made for this world, and neither am I._

Her mind flashed to another memory, of a time Archie’s words quite contradicted the ones he was singing now.

_You’re so perfect Betty. I’ve never been good enough for you._

Just like that, the floodgate opened up and all her fears pricked at her skin like needles. She barely recognized her nails digging into her palm as she stood up, interrupting Archie. “Stop.”

“What is it? You don’t like it?” he asked with a tinge of panic in his voice. He took one step closer, and she went one step back.

“No. This…it’s…it’s us.” She shook her head. “I love Jughead. And you love Veronica…right?”

Tell me I’m right. Tell me I’m not the one you want just like you did that first dreadful night. Tell me again so I can finally move on.

Hesitation formed in Archie’s eyes. It made everything worse.

“But then what has all this been about?” he asked confusedly. 

“I don’t know.” Betty shrugged, ignoring the pit in her stomach. She grasped at straws, trying to make sense of something that seemed incomprehensible. “I don’t know. Maybe it’s because everything’s changing in the next few weeks, and you and I feel safe with one another. We always have.”

Archie stilled.

“I don’t know,” she repeated one last time. It was the only thing she was sure of – her own confusion. “But I do not want to hurt or lose Jughead.”

“I don’t want to lose or hurt Veronica either,” Archie replied, almost defensively.

Betty cracked a sad smile, knowing that this was the end of the discussion. “So whatever this is, or it was… it’s just over.”

There was no way they could carry on doing whatever they were doing without hurting or losing their friends. Since that wasn’t an option, they had to end things. She knew it was the right decision to make to keep the peace between the four of them. Veronica and Jughead would never forgive them for the cheating and would certainly leave them in the dust if they even contemplated dating each other. This way, only one person would be hurt in the long-run. Herself. One is better than two.

As for Archie, she knew by the look on his face, he was hurting now, and she hated to see it happen. But there was still doubt in the back of her mind that this was as serious to him as it was to her. There was a possibility that he would overcome the temporary hurt, looking back at it as a foolish wound struck by whimsical idea.

If Cheryl was right, at least in the aspect of Archie’s feelings, Betty would not be able to survive it. If they dated, and he realized one day that she wasn’t the one for him, there was no coming back from that. Betty wasn’t sure if she could handle still being his friend in that scenario, and that was too frightening to think about.

Archie robotically walked back to his bed and sat down.

Betty left the room with the first few lyrics of his song ringing in her ears.

_She’s not made for this world, and neither am I._

And neither is our love, she dejectedly added as an after-thought.

* * *

Life after that night was strange. So alike and yet so different.

She had burned all but one diary of hers and hoped that with those pages her longing for Archie would turn to ash as well.

“I’m all in,” she had told Jughead, in her mind secretly alluding to something other than the mystery about the tapes.

It felt like closing the door on the idea of her and Archie for good.

Things returned to normal, or at least as normal as they could get. They remained in their little loops. She would share a few words with Archie in group settings, smiling placidly and acting like nothing had changed. It was almost sad how it took cheating on Jughead for her to realize how little time she normally spent with her best friend while they were in relationships.

She wasn’t sure if that was the norm or not. Was a relationship supposed to make you feel like you had to spend every minute together or else it would splinter away?

Betty shrugged off that thought as she tried to return her focus back to Jughead’s story about Mr. Honey. He had written a piece about their group of friends killing him and she didn’t miss how insidious he painted them.

She laughed as she kept reading. “This is great stuff, really. But Cheryl of all people having more of a conscious than us? And Archie going to the Naval Academy? You certainly took your creative liberty seriously.”

Jughead grinned. “Hey now, the red devil might appear all tough on the outside, but there’s some hidden depths.”

Betty inclined her head in agreement. “As for Archie?”

“Well, that part is true.”

She froze.

Jughead noticed and his eyes widened. “Oh…you didn’t know.”

“It’s true? What do you mean it’s true?” Betty whispered in horror.

He scratched the back of his neck awkwardly. “I think it’s better if you hear it from him. He only told me yesterday in passing.”

“Told you _what_ , Jughead?” Betty asked, leaning in, her voice slowly rising.

“Why are you freaking out Betty?” Jughead frowned. “We’re all bound to end up somewhere else after graduation.”

She shot up from her seat. “We’re not talking about college. You said he’s going to the Naval Academy!”

“So what if he is?” he questioned.

There was something ugly burning her from the inside out. Jughead didn’t understand. But, of course he didn’t. Archie was much more important to her than he was to him.

“This means he might never come back. He might leave forever.”

Jughead stared at Betty for what felt like a century.

“I know he’s your best friend. But if that’s what he wants to do with his life, that’s his choice to make Betty. You can’t hold him back.”

“I’m not trying to hold him back,” she denied vehemently. Her head spun as she took in the weight of his words.

She spent the last three years trying _not_ to hold Archie back. Was this wish enough to negate all of that?

“I just feel like he isn’t thinking clearly. Archie would hate that place.”

“How do you know?”

“Because I know him!” she exasperatedly yelled. “Better than you, obviously.”

The last part spilled out before she could stop it.

“Obviously.” Jughead gave her a strained smile. “Are you sure that’s the only reason you’re upset?”

There were too many poisonous words at the tip of her tongue. Betty took a deep breath, trying to salvage what she could of the conversation.

Jughead silently picked up the pages of his story. Both of them knew that their relationship was hanging on very thin ice, and it only took one firm crack for it to fall apart again.

“You should talk to him,” he finally said.

Betty kept her face clear of all emotions. Talk to him. As if it was that easy.

“If anyone can change his mind, it’s you.”

She glanced at Jughead, wary of what he meant. Nothing in his voice or eyes implied a hidden message behind his words though.

“I don’t know,” she replied nervously. “He didn’t even tell me yet.”

If the whole kissing fiasco hadn’t occurred, would she have been the first person he told? Betty decided that she didn’t want to jump down that rabbit hole.

“Probably because he knows how you’d feel about it.” Jughead let out a laugh. “You’re hard to argue against, trust me.”

She didn’t know what to say in return. How could she explain to her boyfriend that it probably had more to do with the awkward turn their friendship had taken after the third time they kissed? That it had something to do with how they avoided being in each other’s company, too worried that with one real look into each other's eyes, they would repeat the mistake they made? That it was too risky to have one on one conversations and too painful to pretend otherwise?

“I think I’ll just wait for him to tell me,” Betty sighed.

Jughead frowned again.

She looked away.

“Won’t it be hard to act normal?”

“I’ve had tons of practice.”


	2. Mistakes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Name a better duo than me and updating in the middle of the night. 
> 
> So, this chapter was definitely tricky to write because I tinkered around with many different ways to go about it. My rule of thumb is generally to wait until I'm 100% satisfied rather than to post a rushed piece of writing. I hope you all enjoy (and if you do enjoy, let me know why).

Archie Andrews was not the smartest guy on the block. That was a fact he was well-accustomed to. He was used to making mistakes. If there was a God, they knew he made many of them. He was used to acting rashly, jumping in with both feet, without thinking of the consequences.

He knew he was capable of doing a _lot_ of stupid things.

But kissing Betty? That definitely took the cake.

Not only had he cheated on his girlfriend, stabbed his friend in the back, and potentially ruined his relationship with Betty for good, but he had done it all right before graduation. Right before they would separate and venture off to begin their real lives.

The fragile strings that could have held them together after graduation had possibly just been snipped by that one kiss. That is, if Veronica and Jughead found out, and Betty never got over it.

If he had more time to work things out, he might have found a way to fix this, but that wasn’t in the cards for him.

 _And you had time_ , his mind whispered. _A lot of it. Years that you took for granted and wasted._

Archie loosened and undid his tie. His eyes roamed over himself in the full-body mirror, taking in the neatly pressed white shirt and midnight blue suit ensemble, before throwing the tie to the side.

There was no need for a tie, or hair gel, or cologne. Veronica wouldn’t have noticed those little details anyway.

The thought of her made him grimace guiltily. He glanced at the tie again.

“Prom has to be perfect,” she had said dreamily one evening. “After the last three years, we deserve at least that, don’t you think?”

Archie wrapped the tie around his neck again. Perfect wasn’t in his arsenal, but he could try to make an effort.

An image of a teary-eyed blonde in a pink dress flashed through his mind. A reminder that he wasn’t ready to try for _her_ when it counted.

It would be the biggest regret of his life. This simple truth resided in his bones, in his blood, in his heart – Archie wanted to tear at his flesh until he could rip it out.

“Wow, look at you!”

He turned around to spot his mother, beaming with a smile.

“You look great, honey.” She helped him adjust the tie. “Are you going to pick up Veronica?”

“Yeah.” He nodded. “Leaving in ten. How’s the corsage?”

“Very pretty,” his mom answered. Then she fixed him with a studying look. “So, how are you feeling?”

Archie kept his eyes on the white corsage in his hand. “About what?”

“Tonight. Prom. Graduation. Anything.”

“Great.”

“Great?” she parroted.

“Yeah.”

“Hmm.”

He sighed frustratingly. “What is it now, mom?”

Her smile disappeared. “You just haven’t been yourself since…since the day you told me you wanted to join the Academy. Archie, you know there’s no pressure, right? If you don’t feel fully ready to commit-“

“I’m ready,” he interjected. “You don’t need to worry about that.”

He really didn’t want to think about that day, or the decision that would make or break his future.

“I’m your mother. It’s my job to worry.” She laughed.

Archie offered her a weak smile. “I’ve got to go.”

“Right. Take your guitar with you,” she replied.

“Why?” he asked.

“It’s prom! Don’t you want to sing?”

A feeling of dread hit him like an avalanche. He also really didn’t want to think about the last time he sang a song.

His answer came out firm and heavy. “No.”

“But it’s-“

“Prom, I know. But I haven’t rehearsed for a song.”

“Take it just in case you change your mind,” she argued.

He sighed, nodding.

 _Choose your battles wisely son,_ his father’s words echoed in his mind.

So, he had one less battle to fight. He didn’t know it yet, but Archie would fight three more before the night came to an end.

* * *

Standing in front of the gym entrance with his date on his arm, Archie leaned back on his heels nervously.

“Stop fidgeting, Archiekins. It’s a school dance, not a funeral.”

Veronica grinned at him impishly. She was wearing a shiny dress that reached mid-thigh at the front and cascaded down in layers at her sides until it reached her feet. It was the colour of dark pink-no, purple-no, magenta? He wasn’t sure. It was nice though, with a diamond pattern falling neatly in the middle. Diamonds were in her eyes as well, right before they blinked at him, and shattered like ice.

“That was a joke. Why are you so stiff?”

He felt his head shake robotically. His body was on auto-pilot mode, and his mind, a numb observer. “I’m fine. Let’s just go inside.”

He led the way in before she could press him for answers.

“You look beautiful. I know I already said that, but…” his words trailed off.

She smiled again, placated for the moment. “And you look handsome. I didn’t say that yet, but…”

He smiled back. “Want me to get you a drink?”

“Yes, please. I have some mingling to do. Oh, there’s Toni!”

“On it,” he quickly replied. As soon as he turned around, the fake smile fell from his lips and he let out a breath.

Just two more weeks of this and then he would be free. It was a relief in all honesty. Of course he cared for Veronica, but lately it was getting harder and harder to pretend to be someone who was happy with his life choices.

He walked over to the crowded refreshments table and poured punch into two clear cups. Reggie slapped him on the back, cheering, and saying some words that went in one ear and out the other, because all he could focus on was the girl walking into the gymnasium with the beauty and grace of God herself.

Betty Cooper. His best friend. His everything.

She glowed like the Sun, or maybe it was just a reflection of the floor-length gold dress she was wearing, just as enchanting and ethereal as herself. Her hair was down, brushing softly against her shoulders and back. She looked so perfectly divine.

And so perfectly unattainable.

He was rushed back to his childhood, his early teenage years, his first school dance with her as his date, and every single moment when he felt like he could be the one for her - before he got intimidated and scared.

Weak. He was so fucking weak.

And pathetic. No wonder she chose Jughead over him. She could choose a toad from the swamp over him and he wouldn’t bat an eye.

An arm slipped around her waist and his eyes followed up that arm to see the face of his other friend. The one he loved. The one he hated.

Jughead’s brown eyes met his, and he grinned. They began walking towards him, Betty’s face contorted in practiced neutrality.

A dark satisfaction uncurled in his chest. _I know you,_ it said. _I know you better than anyone. I can see through this mask you wear. You can fool him, but you can’t fool me._

Stop it. He shook those thoughts away before they stepped in front of him. She made her choice, and he’d respect it no matter how much it killed him inside. Just like the last time he dared suggest that she give him a chance.

He was not worthy of her.

It was another well-known fact of the universe. So why did it sting now more than ever? Why couldn’t he stomp down those feelings of hurt and anger as he watched her walk towards him?

Maybe it was because it was prom. He’d always liked the idea of prom. In his imagination though, he’d pictured Betty at his side. He’d pictured Betty wearing his white corsage, not the black one currently on her wrist. He’d pictured them laughing together as they reminisced on memories until they cried, dancing until their feet hurt, taking hundreds of photos because her mom would surely demand that from her the next day, and...and thinking of all this didn’t help.

Because although she was now standing near him, she couldn’t have felt farther away. And he knew it was his fault.

An elbow pierced his right rib, and he looked to his side, surprised to see Veronica with a small frown on her face.

“What?”

“I said don’t they look great together?” she repeated, pointing at Jughead and Betty.

Archie personally thought Betty’s dress washed out Jughead’s white suit, but he didn’t dare say it. He simply nodded and kept his eyes on Jughead’s temple.

“Should we have a drink together to celebrate? Damn, I wish someone spiked this.” Reggie’s voice boomed over the music, causing a near-by teacher to glare at their group.

Archie lit up with amusement. There was no point in stressing over what the school staff thought of him and his friends. He was sure their opinions already ranged from rebellious ungrateful children to spawn of Satan.

“Say that a little louder, will you?” Jughead sarcastically drawled out.

Reggie opened his mouth to do exactly that before Archie clapped his hand over his mouth. He rolled his eyes and then gestured to his drink.

They all clinked their little cups together and took a sip.

“So, which one of you did the big promposal?” Reggie asked, flickering his gaze between Veronica and him.

“Me, of course. And I didn’t even have to include a second date for him to say yes.” Veronica winked at Betty.

The smile on Betty’s face widened a fraction in reply, but a dark storm clouded her eyes. Or perhaps Archie was just seeing what he wanted to see.

A few seconds later the storm cleared out, and she took another sip of her drink, still avoiding looking at him.

“And what about you two?” Reggie asked the other couple.

An awkward pause ensued.

“Uh, he didn’t- I mean, we didn’t ask each other. It was just obvious that we’d come together, and we were preoccupied with other stuff,” Betty finally said. “I’m not one for big gestures anyway.”

A lie.

“Other stuff, huh?” Reggie chuckled, winking as well. What was up with everyone winking today? “I get you.”

“The only thing you get is the pity extra credit assignments from teachers so you don’t fail your classes. At least we have a date,” Jughead snapped, with more bite than needed.

Archie cast him a disapproving look. “Low blow, man. There’s nothing wrong with a little extra help.”

Jughead didn’t know when he crossed a line. As he glanced at Betty and didn’t see the same disapproval flashing across her face, he was even more disappointed. There was a time when she had shared his opinion, but he guessed that had changed too.

Reggie shrugged good-naturedly. He took most things lightly, but Archie knew that it was a front. “Anyways, I chose to go stag. Less pressure and less commitment. Why drag yourself down with all that worrying?”

“You really mean that?” asked Archie.

“Hell no.” Reggie laughed. “It’s actually kind of boring. Fifty bucks that I can steal someone else’s date by the end of the night.”

“I’m willing to wager as long as it’s not mine,” teased Jughead, trying to ease things out again.

“Oh, I doubt anyone would pull that off,” Archie couldn’t help but input.

Betty’s eyes met his for the first time that night. He wanted those beautiful eyes to stay on him forever. One stare from her and his heart started racing and his fingers twitched with the need to touch her.

An imperceptible emotion flashed in her eyes that he wanted to write out and study.

She broke the connection, walking away after saying some words to Veronica.

There was nothing left in him that could have died more, but somehow watching her figure disappear into the crowd still made him feel like he was swallowing glass.

“Want to dance?” asked Veronica cheerfully.

No.

“Yes.”

* * *

Three more drinks and two dances later, Archie staggered to a chair near the back of the room. Fallen balloons and streamers littered the floor around him. The music wasn’t playing as loudly in this corner.

Archie leaned into his seat and rested his head in the palms of his hands. His fingers brushed over his forehead, trying to alleviate the headache that was forming.

“You all right?” he heard from beside him.

He turned his head to the side, eyes narrowing as he took in the face of a stranger. There was a guy, around his age, sitting at the table next to him. But Archie had never seen him in Riverdale High before.

“So, are you?” the stranger asked, running his hand through his dark hair.

“Am I what?”

“All right?”

“I’m fine.” The lie came out of his mouth naturally, but the stranger didn’t buy it.

“Sure, you are. You know I heard telling your problems to someone you don’t know can help.”

“Where’d you hear that?”

The boy shrugged. “Does it matter? I don’t want to pressure you, but it might actually work.”

Archie almost scoffed. His eyes drifted back to the dance floor where Betty and Kevin were trying to pull some kind of move off and failing spectacularly. For just a moment, a real smile pulled at his lips.

“Ah, I should have known. It’s usually always about a girl.”

Archie looked back over at the stranger. “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“So, who is she?” he asked, side-stepping his remark.

“My best friend.” Archie sighed. “At least, I hope she still is. We...we did something, and now I’m worried that things will remain tense and awkward between us. We’re graduating soon, and I don’t know if our friendship can survive this.”

“Believe it or not, I actually know a lot about this kind of thing.”

Archie gave him a doubtful look.

“Let me guess. You’ve been best friends for so long that it’s scary to admit you have feelings for one another. Or, you’ve admitted them, but are too scared to take the next step.”

“It’s complicated.”

“It always is.”

“She’s dating someone else. So am I.”

“Does it matter?”

“Of course it does."

“Does it change how you feel about her?” he rephrased.

A pause. The answer was no, but it felt too indecent to admit out loud.

“Life is all about choices. In a short matter of time, you’ll be separated. The physical distance is unchangeable, but you don’t have to create distance between your hearts as well.”

Archie grimaced. “What the hell does that even mean?”

“You have a choice to make. Are you going to let this be the end of your story?”

Words failed him. Of course he didn’t want that, but he wasn’t sure where Betty’s head was at. Maybe she would prefer to just get through the next two weeks without drama. Maybe she was alright with how their last conversation alone ended. Maybe she was content with her decision.

And maybe he was still a coward.

Even if all of those things were true, he still didn’t feel satisfied with the way things shaked out. He was okay with Betty choosing Jughead over him. The thing that kept him up at night was the fact that they never really talked to each other. The plan was to meet at his place to discuss their feelings. He had started off with a song, intending to speak afterwards. He thought the song would speak for a lot by itself.

But Betty had stopped him half-way through the song. He didn’t realize what was happening until it was too late. One second he was singing, and the next she was leaving. By the time his brain processed everything, he had decided to leave Riverdale for good.

“In my experience, until you’ve laid out all the cards on the table and left yourself vulnerable, you can’t ever get that person out of your head.”

As if he’d ever want Betty out of his head.

“That’s not my concern. It’s this feeling of regret. I wish I had said more. Argued more. Fought for us more.”

“There’s still time,” the stranger calmly replied.

Archie glanced at Betty again. Her head was pulled back as she giggled at Kevin’s dancing. Then he looked down at the guitar lying next to his feet, getting another really stupid idea. It was probably another mistake, but he had made so many already. What was the harm of one more?

He jumped to his feet. The stranger didn’t seem surprised.

“What are you going to do?”

“A big gesture.”

* * *

His body was on auto-pilot again, this time in survival mode so that he wouldn’t lose the nerve to do what he planned.

He brushed against Cheryl and Toni as he tried maneuvering through people. The former raised an eyebrow at the determined look on his face. Before she could comment, Toni pulled her in for another sweet kiss. Cheryl immediately forgot all about him.

From the corner of his eye, he saw Jughead walking out of the gymnasium while talking on his phone.

Good. He wanted Betty’s full attention.

After a few quick words to the DJ, he successfully managed to get on the stage with a mic stand. A loud noise erupted from the mic as he adjusted it, and some audible groans from the crowd followed. 

He searched the crowd for Betty. She was standing still, gazing at him inquisitively. Kevin was next to her, whispering in Fangs’ ear.

“Hi everyone,” Archie spoke into the mic. “Sorry to stop the music, but I wanted to play my own song.”

Betty’s shoulders slightly rose in tension.

He didn’t want to be the cause of that. The angel on his shoulder cried out against doing anything that she might dislike. The devil on the other shoulder thought, hey, if he was going to suffer, she could handle at least knowing about it.

He was tired of hiding how miserable he felt.

He was tired of being a coward.

He was tired of Betty not letting him finish his confessions of love. And yes, he knew that wasn’t completely fair, but he figured most people would get frustrated as well if the person they were trying to spill their heart out to kept running away before they finished.

It was one thing for her to shut him down after he got a chance to tell her how much he loved her. It was another to do it before he even made his case.

So, it didn’t matter if she hated him for doing this. Archie was going to sing her song and she was going to listen.

“Is everyone okay with that?” he asked the crowd, bringing himself back in the moment. A few nods and approvals were shot back. “Actually, I don’t really care. I’m only doing this for one person.”

Archie forced himself to laugh along with the audience while staring at Betty, but it wasn’t as effortless as he liked. The panic on her face made him turn serious again. He tilted his head, hazel eyes shining with an apology and a promise at the same time.

His fingers strummed the guitar as he played the familiar tune. The lyrics came to him easily. His voice wasn’t shaking. He hadn’t forgotten a beat.

_There’s no warning_

_When everything changes_

_You let down your guard_

_And I saw something strange_

_I thought, she’s not made for this world_

_And neither am I_

He kept his eyes solely on Betty as he sang. She didn’t look away this time.

_Cause you make me wanna be stronger than I am_

_Maybe I'm reaching, misplacing a feeling_

_There's no way to know but to try_

_So, give me tonight_

The words he never got a chance to say finally came out and Betty’s shoulders collapsed.

_I don't know much_

_But I know this feels right_

_So, give me tonight_

_If you carry the torch_

_I'd follow the light_

_I'd follow the light_

The shock on her face shouldn’t have made him feel this good. He knew he shouldn’t enjoy seeing her so baffled and uncertain, he _knew_ that, but he felt it anyway.

The song was only part of what he wanted her to hear. Whether or not she’d let him say the rest remained a question.

Maybe she’d ignore him the remainder of the night for taking this risk out in public. He didn’t dare use the stage for a speech, although the thought did come to his mind. “No, that would be too much,” he thought as he stepped down.

The DJ began playing a track, and most people returned to what they were doing before. Only, Kevin was staring at him with an open mouth and bulging eyes. Fangs looked a little confused. And Cheryl...Archie froze as he realized Cheryl looked horrified. Thinking of her reaction made him search for one more, remembering the person he shouldn’t have forgotten about.

And there across the dance floor stood Veronica, shaking from her entire body. Her arms were crossed in front of her, her head was majestically tilted up in anger, and despite her height, she looked down on him with the rage of an army.

She walked out of the gym, knowing he would follow.

But Archie didn’t move.

Instead, he turned towards Betty, and took a step in her direction.

She frantically shook her head, wanting him to go after Veronica. The message was clear as day in her eyes.

Archie knew it was the right thing to do, and of course he planned to apologize to his girlfriend, but seeing Betty dismiss him again felt like another rejection. He wondered if that was it; if she wouldn’t let him speak his truth ever again.

“Archibald Andrews, what have you done?” Cheryl’s voice screeched out.

He fast-walked away before she could catch up to him.

The cold air bit into his skin as he rushed into the parking lot. It took him a while to figure out that Veronica was standing right next to the entrance, leaning against the wall donning posters of prom and past events. To say she didn’t look happy was an understatement.

He couldn’t think of anything to say that would make the situation better, but he also couldn’t see how things could get any worse.

His secret was out and all Archie felt was unburdened.

Veronica huffed at his silence. “I’m not the one who should be on my knees begging for forgiveness right now.”

Archie closed his eyes.

“Why?”

The simple question burned through his brain. He re-opened his eyes and blinked wearily at the girl he had an on-and-off relationship with for the last three years. He couldn’t say he didn’t love her. He couldn’t deny falling _in_ love with her through all their time spent together. Or at least, what he thought was falling in love. It got murkier every day that passed.

Could you really be in love with someone if you never fell out of love with another? Archie wasn’t sure anymore.

“Why?!” Veronica suddenly stepped away from the wall and shoved him in the chest with her fists.

“I am so sorry,” was all he managed to utter out before she interrupted.

“When did you write that?”

“A few days ago.”

“It’s for her isn’t it?” she asked with a cynical laugh. “Betty. All your songs were for Betty.”

“No. Yes. I mean-”

“Did the fake dating get to your head that much? I asked you if you felt anything while you were pretending to be with her. I asked you!”

_You are now and forever the only girl for me._

At the time he said that, it was technically true. He remembered how he had stilled and panicked. He remembered how he had stressed the word “now,” because Betty came first. There wasn’t any speck of hope in his mind that he’d ever really get to be with Betty, so “forever” applied as well.

But his words didn’t answer Veronica’s question, only misdirected from it. Faking a relationship with Betty felt like the most natural thing in the world. It was easy to pretend it was real, and tough to resist his old feelings for Betty that re-surfaced. Whenever he spent any time with her, they slowly inched back to the fore-front of his mind. Maybe that was why they drifted apart in the last three years. It was easier to act like the feelings weren’t there if they didn’t see each other as much as they used to.

Veronica wiped away a tear from her cheek. “Do you love me?”

“Of course I love you.”

“Do you love me more than her?”

He sharply inhaled. “Ronnie, I can’t answer that.”

“You just did.” Veronica shook her head at him, with more tears falling down her cheeks. She quit trying to hide them.

“So all those times you kissed in the past, you felt something for her. And the summer that I came here, you felt something back then too, didn’t you?”

“I’ve always loved Betty, and I always will. I told you that a long time ago, Veronica.”

“I didn’t think you meant that you were in love with her! Even if it was true at that time, what about me? What about us? We’ve been together for so long, through so much. Tell me you haven’t been in love with my best friend through it all, Archie, or I swear to God-”

“I can’t.”

He looked down at his shoes. Veronica gasped.

“Did-did something happen between you two again? Is that why you wrote a song for her?” Her voice broke at the last sentence. The anger remained strong but hurt crept through as well.

It felt like a punch to the stomach. The last thing he wanted was to hurt her.

“Answer the question!”

“We kissed.”

Silence.

“We kissed and didn’t know what it meant. So, I asked Betty to meet me at my place where we could talk about it. I wrote her that song because for the first time in a long time I had inspiration to write one, and because I wanted to show her how much I loved her. She stopped me, so it doesn’t matter anymore.”

Words just kept pouring out of his mouth while Veronica stayed silent. In the back of his mind was a voice yelling at him to shut up before he made another girl in a pink dress go home broken-hearted because of him. So, he shut up, and he waited.

He didn’t have to wait for long. Veronica’s hand reached forward and whipped his head to the side with a resounding slap.

Archie touched his cheek, and gruffly nodded. He deserved much worse than that.

“Go to hell, Archie,” she snapped before leaving.

“Already on the way there,” he whispered to the air she left in her presence.

Well now he didn’t have to worry about struggling to maintain a long-distance relationship. He didn’t realize he was crying too until the fingers that rubbed his cheek came back wet.

He turned around and walked back inside, not even fully aware of what he was doing. Before he knew it, his body bumped into someone else's.

Kevin stepped back, and upon recognizing Archie, smiled sympathetically. Archie didn’t react. He didn’t want sympathy, or worse, pity. He wanted the guilt and shame to rain down his body until he was soaked in it, and then he wanted to leave this town behind for good.

“She’s waiting for you.”

Confusion pierced his thoughts.

Kevin pointed to the dance floor. “Better hurry.”

“What?” Archie frowned.

His questioning paused as he spotted her. Betty was standing in the same exact place that he had last seen her. Her chin rose up as she noticed him, gauged his mood, and softened.

His feet moved on their own volition before stopping mere inches away from her. Exhaustion seeped through him in waves. He wondered if everyone could read him as easily as her. 

“Betty.”

“Archie?”

His eyes pleaded with hers for forgiveness. “Would you like to dance with me?”

She didn’t reply.

He swallowed hard and waited for the final rejection - for all his mistakes to add up to one fatal blow.

Instead, she nodded, and held out her hand. And Archie remembered what it felt it like to breathe again.


	3. Fears

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello my lovelies! I was planning on splitting this chapter into two parts, but there was no place that felt right for me to make the divide, so here we are! I'm pretty sure this is longer than the first two chapters combined. Leave a comment if you liked the chapter, because I love hearing people's thoughts, and enjoy!

If someone had told Betty Cooper months ago that her prom night would be a dumpster fire of an experience, she honestly would have believed them. Like with everything else in her life, the universe would not let anything go smoothly. She was used to difficulties and trauma-inducing problems, but nothing had ever prepared her for a mess quite like this.

Right from the beginning of the day she felt an unease pooling in her stomach. Her dress fit nicely, her hair was in soft curls, and she couldn’t pin-point anything drastically wrong with her appearance. The unease came from the look in her eyes when she stared too long at her reflection, the nails she had to re-paint because she kept scratching off the polish, and the way her breath came out unevenly at the thought of spending another evening near Archie, but not with him.

Jughead had been a gentleman all evening. His black corsage felt cool against her wrist and looked classy and beautiful. After making the rounds, they had danced together to a couple of upbeat songs that she managed to convince him to sing along to despite his initial resistance. It was cheesy and sweet, just like prom should be.

Although she had tried to avoid looking over, her body tingled with awareness whenever they would get too close to Archie and Veronica. Seeing them dance together struck a chord in her. It was funny how when feelings of hurt and jealousy you thought you had gotten over came back, they returned stronger than ever. It was not funny having to explain to her boyfriend why she was “in a mood.”

Jughead certainly noticed something was up but didn’t press for details too much. His phone kept going off with texts regarding the video of Mr. Honey which also kept him preoccupied.

The night had taken a turn just as he stepped out of the gym to answer a call and Archie hopped on the stage. Archie was born to be in the spotlight, but she did not want to get dragged under it with him. Not like this. Not in front of all their friends.

She had almost jumped on the stage and tackled him to stop the singing. Almost. For every reason she had wanted him to stop, there was another for wanting him to continue.

The song was proof that his feelings for her were serious. Each meaningful lyric took aim at her heart and fired. As Archie strummed the guitar one last time, she strummed with anxiety as the weight of his words and actions really hit her.

One look around her had showed her enough. Veronica had left. Cheryl had demanded an explanation from Archie on Veronica’s behalf. Kevin had held her close, knowing that her knees were weak, and she was close to shattering.

Betty didn’t shatter unless there was a very, very good reason for it. She had survived living under the same roof as a serial killer for god’s sake. If she could handle that, then surely, she could handle this. Kevin was still speaking into her ear, although the words sounded like white noise. She welcomed it as warmth reached her toes again and her spine straightened.

“-inevitable and there’s nothing we can do to change that.”

Betty blinked at Kevin.

He sighed. “Never mind. Just wait here. I’ll go get you some water. Fangs,” he tilted his chin towards her, and with some silent eye communication it became clear that Fangs was to stay near her while he was gone.

They talked briefly. It was only a minute before her eyes met Archie’s and she stuttered mid-sentence.

He looked like he had aged ten years. There was a wild desperation in his eyes, building higher and higher as he approached her.

“Betty.”

“Archie?” she whispered back, not sure what to expect.

“Would you like to dance with me?”

She studied his expression as he held out a hand. His eyebrows were furrowed. His lips pressed together in a thin line. There was no sign of hope left in him, and Betty wasn’t sure what kind of hope she was even searching for.

He had asked her for a dance at prom. Fifteen-year old Betty would have killed for this. Seventeen-year old Betty only nodded.

Her palm slid against his, and he slowly pulled her closer until she could feel the heat of his body radiating against her. She felt a charge of electricity shooting up from the hand that was in his grasp and travelling to every nerve in her system. It was too much, too fast, after all the time they purposely kept apart.

Betty was hyper-aware of every place where their bodies met, his uneven breath ghosting along her cheek, and each time he tried to form words and failed.

For a while they merely moved to the beat of the slow song playing in the background. She kept her hands firmly on his shoulders while he lightly touched her waist. The silence suited her just fine. You could ignore all your problems if you didn’t voice them out loud.

But Archie opened his mouth again. “Thank you for not saying no to the dance. I was worried you’d turn me away.”

Betty raised her eyes to meet his. “That’s the problem. I can’t.”

She bit her tongue hard. Why did she have to say that? What was wrong with her?

A hint of a smile teased his lips and Betty wanted to personally wipe it off.

“Why did you sing that song? I thought we’ve been over this,” she stated in a monotone. “Didn’t we agree to end it?”

“It?”

“You know what I mean.”

“No.” Archie shook his head. “Actually, I don’t know what you mean by _it_. And I don’t think you do either.”

Her feet froze for a second while her mind raced. He couldn’t possibly do this now. How dare he do this now?

“I sang that song because I wanted you to hear it,” he continued, as if he wasn’t throwing her world off balance. “I wish you let me finish singing the first time.”

“Is this your way of punishing me?” she asked incredulously.

Archie frowned at her. “You really think I’d do that out of revenge?”

She internally winced. “No, I don’t. So, what’s the real reason?”

“I just told you. I wanted you to hear the full song. I wanted to make sure you knew it was real for me. That the kiss and the meetings that took place after didn’t happen because I was just curious about what it would feel like to be with you, but because I don’t remember a time when I didn’t want you.”

“That’s not true. That can’t be true.”

She couldn’t recognize the sound of her own voice. It came out harsh and raw, immobilizing Archie to the spot.

“But it is true.”

She moved out of his grasp. “I’m sorry, did Veronica inflect some brain damage to you when you went outside to see her? Because I clearly remember you turning me down when I asked if you loved me three years ago.”

He exhaled deeply, and wrapped an arm around her waist again, smoothly pulling her back into a slow dance. “And I clearly remember telling you that I did love you, and that I was only turning you down because I didn’t deserve you.”

An ugly laugh erupted from inside her. “Right. The good old it’s not you, it’s me excuse.”

He peered into her eyes with anguish. “It’s not an excuse.”

“Out of all the bullshit I’ve seen and heard in this town, Archie, that still comes out on top.”

“I can’t believe you don’t realize how incredible you are. You set the bar so high, Betty, with everything that you do.”

“I am not perfect,” she protested with an emphasis on each word.

“I’m not saying that you don’t have flaws, Betty. We all do. But I still think you’re perfect despite them, and I always will. Three years ago, that thinking made me believe that I wasn’t good enough for you.”

Betty raised an eyebrow. “And that’s changed now?”

He smiled softly. “No, but I’ve realized that for you, I’m willing to try to become that person until I take my last breath.”

A rush of exhilaration hit her in the chest, followed by a pang of longing. Betty wanted to freeze time so she could make a copy of this moment and re-live it on a loop once it was over.

His thumb rubbed gentle circles on her waist as he let her absorb that revelation. Her arms looped around his neck. The tiny space between them grew smaller.

“We’ve wasted so much time.”

The statement rang with regret. A hollowness that she was growing quite familiar with began to swallow her whole.

Archie’s face twisted with pain. “I know,” he let out. “I know.”

Seconds passed by, and with them, the final walls Betty was used to keeping up came crashing down. She allowed him to see just how affected she was by his words and sorrow because she felt that sorrow too, and she knew it wasn’t going away for a very long time.

“This is not at all what I imagined prom to be like,” Archie chuckled dryly.

“What did you imagine?” she couldn’t help but ask.

He stared at her with a look that stole her breath away. “I think you know.”

“Would you ask me to prom in this alternate world, or would I be the one to do it?”

They were hovering over the line of what would be considered appropriate or not. Betty felt the nervous energy hanging in the air, along with the anticipation of something unclear and undefinable.

He took his time with the answer. The serious contemplation made her melt.

“Probably me. I think alternate Betty would like to know she was wanted, and alternate Archie would like the chance to profess his feelings once again.”

“Once again?”

“Alternate Archie would obviously be confident enough to tell her how much he liked her way before prom,” he playfully explained. “He would have jumped at the first opportunity.”

“You mean like asking her to marry him when they were eight years old?”

He laughed and it was infectious. “Yes! Exactly like that. But alternate Betty would be smart enough to say no.”

“She does sound like she’s got a good head on her shoulders,” Betty mockingly agreed.

“She also knows what she wants and isn’t afraid to go after it, which is why she’d be the first one to bring up the topic again, years later at a school dance.”

Her heart began to thump loudly in her ears. Archie’s smile slipped off and he carefully studied her reaction to his words.

Betty didn’t want to hear the rest.

“Alternate Betty would ask alternate Archie how he felt about them becoming a power couple.”

Stop it right now, she almost said. Her cheeks tinged with red, embarrassment rushing through her as she remembered her childish words and his curt rejection.

“Now she sounds stupid.”

Archie furiously shook his head. “Don’t you dare insult alternate Betty again. She’s very smart and very brave. It took a lot of guts to do what she did, and I will not stand for any ridiculing of her.”

Her eyes were becoming glossy. She blinked rapidly, trying to maintain a semblance of composure.

“If alternate Archie had said - Betty Cooper, you are the light of my life. You are the thing that makes me smile when I wake up and grin before I fall asleep. You are the person I turn to for strength in my weakest moments and the person I want by my side to share all the great ones. I don’t care about becoming a power couple in the eyes of others because the only opinion that matters to me is yours. Of course, I want to be in a couple with you. You’ve had me wrapped around your finger since I was four. My whole world is brighter with you in it, and I don’t want you to think any differently - what would she say in return?”

“I love you.”

Her eyes widened. He gazed back at her in surprise.

The words lay in between them, powerful and delicate all at once.

“That’s what she would say,” she added breathlessly.

Her lungs felt like they were on fire. She needed to get out. She needed to get away from him.

A muscle in his jaw twitched and his hold tightened as if he could read her thoughts. He probably could. Her emotions were on haywire, her guard was down, and her face was betraying her. Worst of all, the prickling sensation in her eyes only grew stronger.

“I love you too,” Archie said resolutely. “So much. You mean everything to me, Betty…that’s what he would say.”

A weird mix between a sob and a laugh came out of her mouth.

“Veronica and I broke up.”

Betty let the words sink in. She wasn’t as surprised by the fact that it happened as much as she was by how right the statement felt. She realized then how long she had been waiting to hear that from him.

With that sense of relief came the guilt. Thinking of Veronica made her think of Jughead, and how severely she had mistreated them both.

“I know you made up your mind about us, but I couldn’t go back to pretending. That’s part of why I did what I did,” Archie said with a sigh.

Her eyes shuttered. She _had_ made up her mind that day. She even burned her diaries to cement the decision.

She’d chosen Jughead and that should have been that. Things with Archie were too complicated. Sticking with Jughead was the opposite. And besides, in a way, she did love him too.

Archie’s hand caressed her cheek, setting her skin on fire. “What are you thinking?”

“What are we doing?” she asked instead, peering up at him. “I have a boyfriend who’s your best friend. You just broke up with _my_ best friend. We can’t keep hurting the people that we care about, Arch.”

“So, it’s better to live a lie?” he argued. “We’re going to hurt them only because we haven’t been honest from the beginning. To them and to ourselves. The more we keep running away from the truth, the harder everything will be.”

Her nails bit into his neck. “That’s not fair. You were the one to run away first. I only did what I did to get over you. I didn’t mean to hurt anyone.”

Her voice was rising with her temper. The frustration she felt towards him, towards the whole situation, spiralled out of her control.

“But you knew that singing that song would hurt Veronica. It would show everyone the truth. You’re lucky Jughead wasn’t in the room.”

His lips curled up, but his eyes conveyed anything but amusement. “I wasn’t thinking about them. I was only thinking about you. That’s the way it’s always been.” He paused, trying to choose his words carefully. “I may have run away first, but that doesn’t make you completely innocent in this. You kissed me for real twice - in the car and in the garage. You knew you loved me when you started dating Jughead. You cheated on him, Betty, just like I cheated on Veronica.”

His words landed like grenades. If there was any of her composure left to lose, it was long gone now.

“Yes, I am a horrible person. Thank you for reminding me of that.”

“You aren’t. You’re the best person I know,” he quickly replied. His hand brushed up and down her back soothingly. There was something to be said about the subtle intimacy of his touch; something she couldn’t afford thinking about.

“Ok.” She sighed, instinctively leaning into his chest. “Then we’re both horrible people.”

He reluctantly grinned, pressing his lips against her forehead. She pulled back in alarm.

“Arch, we can’t. You know we can’t for a hundred different reasons.”

He tensed up. “Other than hurting Jughead and Veronica, what are your reasons? If I could go back and change everything, I would-“

“It’s too late for that,” she interjected angrily. “It’s too late for what-ifs. We can’t change anything, Archie. We’ll never know what it would be like if we had started dating in sophomore year, and maybe that’s for the best. At least we spent these last few years as friends. Best friends! Dating could have turned out terrible and ruined us for good.”

His brows rose up. “That’s exactly what made me say no to the idea of us three years ago. The fear of that crippled me. Betty, I have regretted that decision for the rest of my life. I made the wrong choice and look where it’s led us. So, if that’s your reasoning for saying no now…don’t. Please don’t.”

She felt herself come to a stop. He was urging her towards a move that would upend her life catastrophically. It was wrong. It was right. She hated that in the span of a conversation she had become so conflicted. She loved that he was willing to fight for her.

Betty was suffocating from it all.

Her boyfriend had left her at prom to go chasing a lead despite his reassurances that he’d be back before she knew it. And the guy who caused her so much hurt in the past was now declaring that she’d be responsible for the hurt they felt in the future if she currently made the wrong decision.

He had a point. The decision was hers to make because he was all in.

It had not been much time since she said those same words to Jughead.

She didn’t want to make this decision. She didn’t want to be responsible for what their future looked like. Betty gained a new sense of sympathy for the fifteen-year old boy who had been in her shoes in the past. There was no way to be sure that you weren’t making a mistake. Archie had tried to do right by her in his own way.

It was agonizing to do the same thing now.

She hadn’t forgotten about him leaving for the Naval Academy and her leaving for Yale. She had to take their friends into consideration. She had to weigh the risks of the fallout, what their relationship would be like with so much distance between them, how much damage they could do to not only their friends, but also to each other, with the main benefit of giving in – him. She wanted him. So bad, that the thought of denying herself of this opportunity felt like stabbing herself repeatedly in the stomach with a switchblade.

“Please don’t,” he begged again in a hushed whisper.

She couldn’t meet his eyes. That was his first sign.

Archie dropped his hands from her waist.

Betty steeled herself and glanced up. There was so much suffering in his eyes paired with fury. Towering over her, he looked mighty and indestructible, ruthless and unforgiving.

“I can’t give you what you want, Archie.”

It was a contrite, underwhelming reply.

Just like that, all the strength and ruthlessness that he used to harden himself in preparation of her answer leeched out of him. Archie stood as still as a zombie. His eyes were soulless as they stared back at her.

“What I want,” he started hesitantly, “is for you to be happy. If that’s dependant on Jughead, then don’t worry about me.”

He was wrong in thinking that this was what she truly wanted. Betty startled as she realized that he misinterpreted her words. It was partly her fault. She didn’t mean to imply that she was getting what she wanted while he was left in the dust.

Before she could clarify, he dipped his chin in a small nod, having had enough of the conversation. Having had enough of her.

He turned around to walk away and his face met with Jughead’s fist.

The punch knocked his head to the side. He moved back due to the shock of the impact, but not enough to crash into Betty.

It seemed like that punch brought him back to life.

Betty wrangled with her panic as Jughead glared at Archie. All at once, the world that had vanished away while they were dancing came back into sight.

There were people around them, some which glanced in their direction. Teachers stood nearby, passing ballots for awards at the end of the night.

Jughead was here, and he was pissed.

“Veronica texted me. You deserved that and you know it.”

Archie let out a breath. “Jughead, I can’t apologize enough-“

“Don’t bother apologizing if you’re not really sorry. Are you going to claim this was just a stupid kiss again? That it didn’t mean anything? Your tongue just happened to shove into her mouth?” A sarcastic smile stretched across Jughead’s face. “You know what? I don’t care what you have to say. You’re not worth even that punch I gave you. But you-“

His dark brown eyes turned to Betty and the heat in them made her want to sink into the floor and rock against herself.

“You are coming with me. _Now_.”

She flinched at his tone.

“Don’t talk to her like that,” Archie snarled at him. Although he seemed numb and apathetic a few seconds ago, his mood had done a one-eighty. She was getting whiplash from how quickly it kept changing.

“I’ll talk to my girlfriend however I want to,” Jughead bitingly retorted.

She wished she could say that the music had stopped along with the people to watch the fight breaking out, but the loud music was in fact still playing, and it seemed like for the most part, nobody wanted to make prom revolve around her and her friends. Even the students of Riverdale High were over their drama.

Only Kevin and Fangs came to her rescue, placing themselves in between the boys. Archie didn’t even glance at them. His gaze was firmly set on her.

“Maybe we all should all split up. Take a breather, yeah?” Fangs asked the group.

“Betty and I are going to go talk in private,” said Jughead.

“Betty?” Kevin appeared worried.

She half shrugged. “It’s okay.”

Archie clenched his fists. Their eyes met one last time. Nothing was okay.

He was searching for something in her expression. Betty blankly stared in return.

A stoic mask took over his face again and he left the group without looking back.

* * *

The Blue and Gold writing room had never felt this cold in her life.

Moonlight filtered in the room through the windows but neither of them had bothered to turn on the electricity. It made things eerier, but the darkness helped her hide.

Jughead stood near a window, facing away from her.

She peeled off another layer of white nail polish from her index finger. Betty wished he would just get it over with and yell at her. The sooner they talked about it, the sooner she could fix this.

“Veronica texted me that you kissed him.”

Betty’s jaw dropped open. “I didn’t make the first move. Well…neither of us did. It just kind of happened mutually.”

“So, you kissed him.”

Betty bit her inner cheek.

“This happened after our fight?” he asked, slowly turning around.

She nodded a yes.

“Where?”

“His garage.”

“Was it the first time?”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, was it the first time you kissed him outside of the plan to fake date? Besides the kiss in his car.”

“Of course. It only happened that one time,” she adamantly said.

Jughead cast her a skeptical look. “ _Of course?_ I don’t know about that. Archie told Veronica that you two took some time to figure things out, whatever that means.”

She paled in response. “Jughead, if you could just let me explain-“

“Did you or did you not meet with him behind my back, Betty?”

“It’s more complicated than that.”

“There’s nothing complicated about emotional cheating. I just want to know if you physically cheated on me more than once as well.”

“I didn’t,” she whispered.

“So, what did you have to figure out exactly? The best way to lie to your partners?”

She stared at the fisted hands in her lap. “We wanted to figure out what the kiss meant…for us, for our relationships, for the future. We decided to put a stop to it, Jug. You have to believe me.”

“Back up for a second,” he said, raising a hand in the air. “You were trying to decide if you wanted to leave me for him?”

“Jughead-“

“Yes or no, Betty.”

“Yes, but I-“

“I can’t believe you,” he laughed mirthlessly, shaking from his entire body. “I can’t believe all it took was one kiss for you to want to drop everything and chase after him again.”

“Chase after him? No, Jughead, I rejected him. For you! When he tried to tell me in sophomore year that a part of him always thought it would be us who ended up together, I interrupted him before he could even finish. When we spent some time together after the kiss, I turned him down again. Tonight, after he sang the song he had written for me, I turned him down again! I didn’t chase after him like you think I did.”

“Are you expecting a thank you?” Jughead drawled out. “Thank you for doing the bare minimum and turning away his advances when you’re a relationship with me, Betty. Oh wait, except that you didn’t do that. You kissed him. You spent some time with him trying to choose between the two of us, before picking me because...what? You’re afraid he’ll ditch you for Veronica again? You’re afraid to cause a scandal? What is it, Betty? Why did you really choose to say no to him, because it can’t be just for me.”

She swallowed hard. Her throat was dry, and her fingernails pressed into her palm strongly enough to make her want to cry out.

Jughead sat down in a chair across from her. “I can’t even say that I didn’t see this coming. The writing was on the wall from the beginning.”

“No…”

He smirked coldly. “You kissed him in the same place I once told you you’re just waiting for Archie to change his mind.”

“I do love you, Jug,” she insisted tearfully. “No matter what I feel for him, I fell in love with you too.”

“Clearly not enough to matter.”

He managed to silence her with five sharp words.

Jughead rubbed a hand over his face tiredly. “You know we have to talk about college, right? I wasn’t planning on having this conversation until later, but we might as well do it now.”

She waited for the hammer to drop.

“For a while I had hope that we could do long-distance, but I know now it would drive me crazy, and not for the reasons you’re thinking. Sure, I’ll miss you a lot, but I would also get super paranoid thinking about who you’re with and what you’re up to.”

“You think I’d cheat on you again,” she stated dully.

“Can you blame me?”

No. No, she really couldn’t.

“Even if you don’t physically act on your feelings, I’ll be constantly wondering if someone else was occupying all your thoughts and daydreams like Archie does.”

She flushed indignantly, but before she could deny it, he continued.

“Don’t act like you haven’t been distracted all day. In fact, you’ve been distracted from the moment you kissed him, but I was naïve enough to think it was because of the stress of graduation coming up. If we go back far enough, I think you’ll find that our whole relationship served as a distraction for you from what you really want.”

He was correct, but the ugly truth had never been spoken out loud before. She felt like she was stripped bare. 

When she didn’t reply, for just a moment, Betty saw a crack in Jughead’s armor. The fire in his eyes screamed judgement and hurled angry, gut-wrenching words her way.

He rose to his feet and glanced around the dark room. “Funny that it ends here in the place where it all began.”

“So, that’s it?” Betty slumped over in her chair with her eyes shut. “We’re over, just like that?”

“For what it’s worth, I love you too.” Jughead’s voice wavered. “That’s why I have to do this.”

She kept her eyes closed as the sound of his footsteps got quieter and the door clicked shut behind him.

That was when she allowed herself to cry.

That was when she shattered.

* * *

“Are you finished?”

The melodious voice carrying the question made her open her eyes. Cheryl sat at the edge of the desk with one leg crossed over the other.

“Go away,” Betty croaked out, not in the mood for talking.

“Hmmm, I would, but it’s not like you have many people in your corner besides Kevin. Colour me shocked that you can’t even show a little bit of gratitude.”

“You’re on my side?” Betty huffed out in disbelief.

“Veronica’s my friend. You’re my cousin. I can’t take sides, but I can give advice.”

“No thanks.”

Cheryl tapped her nails on the desk. “I was walking past the room and caught part of the conversation.”

Betty massaged her swollen eyes as she waited for the rest.

“You really cheated on Jughead in the same place you had a fight with him about Archie?” Veronica smirked. “How vicious of you, cousin.”

“I’m a bitch.”

“That you are.”

“I didn’t even apologize to him,” Betty realized out loud. “I am _such_ a bitch.”

“That’s not the only thing you need to apologize for.”

She regarded Cheryl curiously.

“You were rude to me when I asked you about saving a page in the yearbook for Jason. I know he’s been dead for some time, but you don’t need to be so callous about it.”

“Oh god, I’m sorry, Cheryl.” Betty groaned, remembering the moment. “I honestly wasn’t trying to be rude, but I understand that I still hurt you. I was wrong to do that.”

“You’re forgiven.” Cheryl paused for a beat, awkwardly diverting her eyes. “Since you’ve admitted to your wrong-doings, I suppose it’s only fair that I admit to mine. I was wrong about you and Archie.”

The air whooshed out of Betty’s lungs. “Excuse me?”

“I didn’t have all the facts when I gave you advice about your boy troubles. Although, that’s completely on you. You lied to me when I asked you if anything had happened with Archie.”

“What do you think you were wrong about?” asked Betty, side-stepping the comment about her lie.

“I thought you were in love with the idea of Archie, remember? I thought you were swept up by nostalgia and a child-like fantasy of a perfect relationship with him. But now, I think there’s more beneath the surface when it comes to you two.”

Betty frowned. “What made you change your mind?”

Cheryl tilted her head. “Let me ask you something first. What did you feel when Archie sang that song for you?”

“A lot.”

“A lot of what?”

“Cheryl, I’m not an expert of my emotions, all right? I just remember feeling conflicted because on one hand I liked hearing that he wanted to give us a real chance, and on the other, I felt bad because logically we could never act on our feelings again.”

“Well, it’s logical now that that you’re both dumped and single.”

Betty glared at her. Cheryl smiled back.

“Okay, moving on. A core part of a childhood obsession is mistaking friendship for romance. I bet you feel really safe and secure with Archie.”

“I do,” Betty admitted. She had always felt like she was most herself around Archie because there was no need to hide any parts of her. He thought she was perfect despite all her flaws, she recalled, and though she didn’t agree, he certainly made her feel that way whenever she spent time with him. Around Archie, she could be confident in her own skin and let down all her walls.

Cheryl pursed her lips. “Do you feel safe with Jughead too?”

The question confused her. “In what way?”

“In any way.”

“I mean…yeah. He’s my- he was my boyfriend. I dated him for a long time so of course I feel comfortable around him.”

“Did you dance with him tonight? How did that feel?”

“I did, and it was nice.”

Cheryl’s eyes lit up with amusement. “And how did that compare to being in Archie’s arms?”

Betty didn’t know where she was going with this. “Dancing with Archie was very different. I was unusually nervous around him. My heart couldn’t stop racing.”

“Because of him?”

“Because of what he makes me feel,” Betty replied. Her own words made her pause.

“I think I see the problem.” Cheryl laughed. “You think being with your best friend is the safe choice because he feels like home to you. But you don’t realize that staying with your boyfriend of around three years could also be the safe choice. With Jughead, everything was nice and simple for the most part. You knew where you stood in the relationship. You didn’t have to worry about much. You knew what to expect. Taking the risk of moving from Hobo Land to Archibald Acres must be scary for you.”

“Stop calling him that.”

“I will if you admit that I’m right.”

Betty considered her for a moment. Were things easy with Jughead? Not always. Would things have been easier if he hadn’t found out about the kiss and she stayed with him compared to the scenario of her breaking up with him, only to then date Archie? Undoubtably. 

There were plenty of things to fear about dating Archie in itself. He claimed that he wasn’t good enough for her, but insecurity tugged at her to think the opposite. She didn’t believe that he would remain satisfied with her because she didn’t believe in herself.

They were cut from the same cloth. Every worry that held one person back at a point in time was felt by the other person eventually. The fear of not measuring up, the fear of destroying their friendship, the fear of what people would think, the fear of turning love into hate, the fear of losing one another – they had shared all those fears and let them overrule their fate.

“Maybe Jughead is my safe option,” Betty hesitantly agreed. “I mean was my safe option. I’m all out of options now.”

A hysterical laugh bubbled out of her.

Cheryl rolled her eyes. “Are you done with the pity party? This is the last time we get to celebrate before graduation. Come on, Betty, cheer up. All four of you will reconcile sooner or later.”

“You mean this summer?” A lump settled in Betty’s throat. “I think Veronica is going abroad for a volunteer mission and Archie’s leaving Riverdale with his mom pretty soon. The only person who might stick around is Jughead and he’ll do his best to avoid me.”

“It doesn’t have to happen this summer. Reconciliation could take years to occur.”

“We’ll all be in separate places, Cheryl. I highly doubt we’ll even talk to each other.”

Something peculiar flashed through Cheryl’s eyes.

“Ugh, why am I even bothering with this nonsense?” she questioned exasperatedly, jumping down from the desk. “Talk to them, or don’t. I don’t care. If you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go enjoy the time I have left with my girlfriend.”

Cheryl hesitated right before leaving.

“Something tells me you’ll regret wasting this time feeling sorry for yourself. If you don’t want reconciliation to take years, then get up and do something about it now.” She flicked her red hair over her shoulder. “But don’t leave before voting for me and Toni to be prom queens. I think this night has proven which couple deserves the top spot and none of you heteros better argue.”

Betty laughed again. “Will do, your highness.”

“Just so you know, Archie left the minute you came here to have your lovers spat.”

She straightened in her seat. “He went home?”

“How should I know where he went?”

Betty plucked a hair tye out of her hand-held purse and created a messy ponytail. Cheryl was right. Things weren’t going to fix themselves.

Jughead and Veronica deserved some space right now, but she could mend things with Archie. Or, at least try to, that is.

She tightened her ponytail and followed Cheryl out of the room.

* * *

“Elizabeth is that you?” her mom cried out from the kitchen.

Betty ran up the stairs to avoid a conversation. “Yeah, mom!”

“You’re back way earlier than I expected! Where’s Jughead?”

“I don’t want to talk about it!”

She shut her door and raced to the window. Her eyes hunted for a sign of Archie in his bedroom, but the lights were turned off and she couldn’t see him.

Her heart sank.

She sighed, looking away and flickering her eyes around her room. They landed on her pink diary. The only one she had not destroyed. She tentatively reached for it and opened to one of the first passages.

_Dear Diary, love makes you do crazy things. And maybe some of what I did was wrong, but maybe I was right about some things too._

Betty quickly closed the book while memories from a life long ago flashed through her mind. In reality, it had only been about three years since she had written that. So much had changed since then, but some things never would.

Her thoughts were interrupted as the lights turned on in Archie’s room.

He stopped moving as he noticed her from the corner of his eye, and slowly turned to his side to face her window.

They stood still, just watching each other.

He had changed out of his suit and into casual jeans and a t-shirt. Betty crept closer to her window, wishing she could touch him. Her palm met the cool glass instead.

She wasn’t sure what he was seeing on her face now, but something about her expression made Archie step forward as well.

He didn’t imitate her gesture with his hand. The hard lines on his forehead said enough.

Betty wanted to smooth them out with her fingers. She wanted to be near him. _Needed_ to be near him.

Her hand pointed down. “Meet me there,” she mouthed firmly.

Archie crossed his arms. “Really?” said the look on his face.

“Really,” her eyes shot back.

She briskly grabbed whatever clothes were near and dashed to her washroom to change, leaving a gawking Archie standing by his window. After stuffing her feet out of four-inch heels and into a pair of sneakers, she ran outside.

It took twenty seconds for her to reach Archie’s house, but forever for him to open the door. She gave into the temptation of ringing the doorbell, even though she knew that he knew she was outside.

Was he not planning on opening the door?

The thought of him ignoring her made Betty dizzy. She tried taking deep breaths, head lowered, and eyes focused on the brown mat underneath her feet.

 _Welcome home,_ it shouted at her in all capitals and an exclamation point.

The door opened. Her head shot up.

Before Archie could say a word, she threw her arms around him. He reeled back in surprise, but without any hesitation, tightly hugged her back. His strong embrace and thundering heartbeat surrounded her as she tried to press herself impossibly closer.

He buried his face into the crook of her neck and smiled. The relief that shot through her as she felt that smile was powerful enough to make her knees tremble. He didn’t let her fall.

I am home, she thought to herself, clutching onto Archie like he was her lifeline. Now to fix things.


	4. Promises

When they parted, Betty was the first to apologize.

Archie heard the words, “I’m sorry,” but they didn’t register. He couldn’t wrap his head around the idea of her being the one to apologize when _he_ was the one who ruined prom.

“For what, Betty?” He slightly laughed under his breath. “You have nothing to be sorry about.”

“That’s not true,” she automatically argued.

The worry in her eyes woke something in him. It was bad enough that he caused this mess by singing that song. He didn’t want to make her feel guilt for rejecting him too.

He looked over his shoulder, and then back at her. “Uh, my mom is home, but we can go for a drive? If you want to talk, I mean.”

Archie felt awkward all of a sudden.

“Yeah! Yeah, that would be good,” Betty replied enthusiastically, with just as much awkwardness in her tone. Her awkwardness was different though. Cute. Dare he say adorable. His own just felt cringey to him.

He left her on the front porch while he quickly and quietly grabbed his car keys and jacket. Then they took off in Archie’s car with no direction in mind.

Betty sat up with great posture in the passenger seat. Her arms were crossed, and her legs were pressed together tightly as she stared out of the window. Archie turned the radio on and let music fill the silence in the car.

The streets of Riverdale were pretty much empty this late at night. It helped them both get lost in their thoughts.

What was said and done in the past couple of hours needed to be soaked in like a sponge. Many thoughts rattled around in his brain, but they kept circulating back to: _She’s here. She’s here. She’s here._

He kept his mouth shut, knowing that nothing good would come out of it until his brain caught up to what was happening. The whole situation was like something out of his wildest dreams. Or was this a nightmare? He wasn’t completely sure.

What he was sure of was that with every mile he passed, Betty relaxed in her seat. Her legs propped up on the dashboard, her fingers drummed on her stomach, and for the first time in a while, a serene look crossed over her face.

He’d drive forever if that was what it took to keep her happy.

As an 80s classic began playing on the radio, his thoughts came to a screeching halt. Betty stilled next to him.

He recognized the song right away, because how could he not? It was a classic after all, and one of his father’s favourites.

_Whenever I'm alone with you_

_You make me feel like I am home again_

_Whenever I'm alone with you_

_You make me feel like I am whole again_

Archie didn’t dare look at Betty.

She didn’t dare look at him.

But they listened. They soaked in the lyrics as if they were gospel, or some sign from the universe that couldn’t be a simple coincidence; as if Fred himself had pulled a string in the cosmic clouds and sent a message.

_Whenever I'm alone with you_

_You make me feel like I am free again_

He couldn’t help but think about the last time they were in his car while being single. He wondered if she was thinking of the same thing. He wondered why neither of them had asked the other where to go. He wondered if it had a little to do with not wanting this drive to come to an end.

If they didn’t voice a destination, maybe they could stay in this moment forever, untouched by the outside world. Maybe they could ward off time, responsibilities, and all societal expectations and simply _be_.

Archie stopped at a red light with one hand on the steering wheel and one leg bouncing to the beat of the song. His nervousness had slipped away and a bright awareness filled the space it left behind. The awareness felt like a pulsing, living thing stretched between him and Betty; stubborn and demanding. Her body leaned towards him as if she was obeying its orders.

_However far away_

_I will always love you_

_However long I stay_

_I will always love you_

Her head nodded along to the words while a smile played at her lips. A smile that said she wasn’t sure if this was a cruel joke or not, but she was past the point of caring. 

_Whatever words I say_

_I will always love you_

_I will always love you_

Something made Archie turn left on the road and park in front of Pops. He turned the ignition, and the radio shut off with it. In the wake of the silence, he glanced at Betty who once again faced the front of the car pensively.

“Want to get a milkshake?”

She grinned. “The answer to all our problems.”

“Our problems can wait for another day. It’s still the night of prom. I think we should end this on a high note.”

It’s the night of the _ruined_ prom, and I know I messed things up, but let me make it up to you so you don’t look back at this day as a complete disappointment, is what he really meant.

Betty rolled her eyes fondly, like she heard the words left unsaid. “I suppose we should try to make some good memories too.”

They got out of the car and walked into the diner. Their favourite booth at the back was luckily available. Betty ordered their drinks while Archie sat down on the side of the booth that was designated as his, years ago.

She re-appeared and carefully sat across from him. While waiting for their order, he used the time to study her. Betty in her prom dress had looked glamorous, but Betty in a loose blouse and jeans, rocking a barely put-together ponytail, looked more beautiful than he’d ever remembered.

It almost wasn’t fair the effect she had on him. His hand reached out to touch hers without thinking. He pulled back awkwardly, resting it in the middle of the table.

She’d made it clear that she wanted Jughead, so he didn’t get to do that.

Betty frowned down at their disconnected hands.

Archie cleared his throat. “I’m the one who should apologize. You told me you wanted to end things in the bunker, and I shouldn’t have presumed that you might change your mind. I shouldn’t have confronted you in public. I shouldn’t have caused this drama on the night of prom. I’m sorry if I complicated things with you and Jughead.”

A waitress placed a strawberry and vanilla milkshake on the table. Betty slowly drank a sip from the latter. Her tongue came out to flick her bottom lip. Archie quickly looked away.

“Jughead and I broke up,” she finally said. “But it’s not your fault. Not completely. If it didn’t happen today, it would’ve happened eventually.”

An uncomfortable hush fell over the booth.

“Is that why you’re here?” Archie forced the question out. “Because you two broke up?”

He didn’t want to believe that he was her second choice, but what else did he have going for him?

Betty’s hand reached for his. She laced their fingers, and he marveled at the sensation of her cool skin brushing against his calloused hand. 

“I’m here because I wanted to clarify some things.” Betty said, running her thumb back and forth over his index finger.

He turned his hand over so they could be palm to palm. “Do tell.”

She smiled a little before becoming serious again. “Okay, here it is. I’ve spent the last three years trying to bury my feelings for you, and for a long time, I thought I had succeeded. I thought our first real kiss meant nothing to you, so I acted like it meant nothing to me either. I thought the last time was a fluke, because maybe you didn’t want me as much as I wanted you.”

“That’s not possible.”

“Let me finish.” Betty sighed deeply. “I thought I had gotten over you, or at least, I managed to convince myself of that. But no matter how much I tried to push those feelings down, they kept climbing up again. And when you asked me at the dance to make a decision, despite everything, I didn’t want to turn you down.”

“Uh, I specifically remember you saying the opposite,” Archie interjected.

She cast him another exasperated look. “I said I can’t give you what you want, yes, but I also said I love you.”

His face flushed. “And what does that mean?”

“Read between the lines, Archie.”

“Reading was always your thing, not mine.”

“It means that I misspoke. I can’t give _us_ what _we_ want. Turning you down makes me as miserable as it makes you. Happy now?” Betty leaned back in her seat but didn’t let go of his hand.

“Not really, no.” He smiled weakly.

Okay, so she didn’t want to reject him. Archie’s brows furrowed together, and he was at a loss for words, because one, what the hell, and two, _what the hell?_

And three, they were both outrageously horrible at communication.

“So, do you have a thing for masochism?”

Betty cast him a glare. “That’s a big word for someone who’s not into reading.”

“I had a good tutor,” he said with a little smirk. “But really Betty, help me understand. Why did you say no?”

She bit her lip and looked over his shoulder. “Why didn’t you tell me you’re leaving for the Naval Academy?”

Oh. _Oh._

Archie felt his blood freeze cold. This was not how he expected to have this discussion. Did he even expect to have it in the first place? He hadn’t exactly made any concrete plans to sit her down and talk about it alone. He figured he’d tell everyone as a group right before graduation, and Betty would smile, nod, and look away like she usually did whenever they were around each other lately.

Talking about it made it worse. Not because he hated the idea of justifying going there, but because he hated the idea of leaving her. Which was crazy because she was leaving him for Yale.

“Where’d you hear that?” he asked.

“Jughead. You told him before you told me,” she accusingly replied. “Why?”

“Because I knew what you’d say.”

“And what’s that?”

“That it wasn’t fit for me. Or, that I wouldn’t be fit for it.”

Her whole demeanor softened. “Arch, I think the Navy would be lucky to have you. I just don’t know if you’d be happy there.”

“I wouldn’t be happy anywhere away from you, but I have to do something productive or I’ll go crazy.”

Her eyes widened. He could see the ocean in them. He wondered if her eyes were all he’d think about every time he was near water.

There was irony in that. He’d travel all that way, trying to desperately move on in life, because his life had moved on from him, and he’d be surrounded by taunting reminders of Betty Cooper.

She was at a loss for words too. There wasn’t anything to say because neither of them could sway the other, and neither of them really wanted to. If Betty wished to go to Yale, she should go to Yale. Archie didn’t want to hold her back from achieving any of her dreams. Similarly, if Archie wanted to go to the Naval Academy, Betty wouldn’t stop him because of her own selfishness. That was not who they were.

He changed gears. “Was that the only reason?”

She shook her head. “No, but it was a big one. We’re going in different directions in life. Is this really the best time to jump into a relationship?”

It wasn’t. That didn’t mean it didn’t suck.

“If we do give it a try and break-up maybe we’ll ruin our one shot,” Archie quietly agreed. “What else?”

“Well, I don’t want to lose you as a friend. If dating destroys us, I’d rather not date at all.”

“Like I said, or sang actually, we won’t know unless we try. Have some confidence in our thirteen-year long friendship. If nothing in Riverdale managed to pry us apart yet, I don’t think we’re capable of doing it to ourselves.”

“We won’t be in Riverdale anymore,” she reminded him. “And on the contrary, I think if anyone has the power to destroy our bond, it would be us.”

He stayed quiet, not fully disagreeing.

“What about Jughead and Veronica?”

“What about them?” Archie retorted quickly. The words seemed careless the second they left his mouth. He winced. “Sorry, I’m terrible.”

“You’re vicious,” Betty said with a contradicting smile. “Just like me.”

He couldn’t fully disagree with that either.

“To answer your question, I think if we started to date now, we would lose them for good.” It hurt to think about. “But who knows, we might have already lost them for good by cheating.”

Betty wheezed. “There is that.”

They stopped talking to stare at each other. He didn’t know where to go from here. The fact of the matter was that there was no solution. They couldn’t date. They couldn’t stop graduation from approaching. They couldn’t do anything but go their separate ways, and they both knew it.

So, he stared at her as if it was the last time he would see her. He made a mental picture in his mind of how she looked under the lights of the diner, of how her eyes seemed to glisten, of how her smile became wobbly…he hated to admit it, but he liked that she was sad at the thought of leaving him too.

Then he immediately wanted to fix her smile.

“We’re going in circles aren’t we?”

She finished her milkshake and played with the straw. “Have any better ideas?”

“Yes actually,” he said, getting out of the booth. “Come on. I want to take you somewhere.”

She followed. They got back in the car. He drove with a purpose this time.

“No way,” Betty laughed loudly, seeing where he took her. “Archie!”

“What?” he laughed back.

“This is your great idea? The playground?”

“I never said it was a _great_ idea.”

Betty, still laughing, got out of the car and ran over to the big slide. “Oh my god, I haven’t been here in so long. We didn’t know how good we had at in elementary school.”

Archie came to stand behind her. Gently, he placed his jacket over her shoulders, and took out the ponytail that got caught underneath. She arched back to lean against his chest.

“Do you wish we could go back?” she questioned lightly.

“No. I like us the way we are now.” He curled his arms around her waist. “I just wish we could stay this way forever.”

“Only if we die young,” she responded, letting out a deep breath.

His arms tightened around her. “I don’t want to think about you dying ever again. You’re going to live a long and happy life, Betty Cooper.”

With or without me.

She silently picked at his hands until he let go of her. Walking slowly, she made her way over to the swing set and chose the one on the left.

He walked over as well and again stood behind her in case she wanted a push.

Betty was content with rocking back and forth on her heels. Her head turned up to look at him. “Will you at least promise to stay in touch?”

“Of course I will. Will you promise not to forget me?”

The look on her face reminded him of the time they were ten and he’d confessed to keeping a jar of his baby teeth under his pillow instead of just one tooth, hoping to make some big bucks. It had gotten even stranger when he’d told her it worked.

“How would I ever forget you?” she wondered out loud like it was preposterous. “You’re my favourite person in the world.”

He carefully tugged on her hair-tie until it slipped down and her hair came loose. He ran his hands through the soft locks, fingers tangling and untangling through the strands like they were explorers venturing through an uncharted but exciting territory. She happily sighed in return.

“I am, until I’m not.”

“No one can replace you, Arch.”

We’ll see, he almost said.

He tugged on her hair until her head leaned back and he could roam his eyes over her, making another mental picture. Her expression screamed at him to believe her. Even when she was angry, she looked so goddamn beautiful.

One hand slowly trailed to her jaw and neck, keeping her head in place, while the other joined her hand on the bar of the swing. He felt her shiver as the tips of their fingers intertwined and he pressed a gentle kiss on her temple. One was not enough. It was never enough. He pressed another on her nose. Another on her eye. Another on her cheek. Another on her temple.

He couldn’t stop staring at her lips. They were beckoning him closer, and he was leaning down, and she was not turning away, and shit he didn’t plan on _this_ , but how could he stop?

He couldn’t.

Their lips met in a soft caress and he was reminded of how utterly perfect it felt to kiss her every time. He wasn’t good enough for her, but whenever they kissed, it felt like he just might be. There was no explanation for why it felt so right other than they were pieces of the same puzzle, fated to join together for a brief blissful moment before the hand of the universe knocked them apart because it was bored and it wanted the challenge all over again.

For an upside-down kiss on a swing, it was surprisingly smooth and coordinated. His lips brushed against hers again and again, needing the taste of her more than oxygen. The universe could sod off. He would do everything in his power to make sure that they found each other, no matter how many obstacles it threw at them.

Betty somehow managed to maneuver her way off the swing, and before he could blink, she’d gotten him to take her place. They almost tumbled off as the swing swayed dangerously while she balanced herself on his lap. It was a flurry of arms and legs trying to desperately hold on, lips trying to stay connected, and laughter pealing into the night. Archie had never felt more alive.

She bit down on his bottom lip and he sharply inhaled. “No one can replace you.” Her tongue came out to soothe the injury. “It’s impossible. Say it.”

“Say what?” he teased between the kisses that had gotten harder and faster, almost volatile in their nature. Her tongue sought entrance and he immediately complied, feeling a rush that went straight to his head. She tasted like vanilla milkshake, warm sunsets, the candy canes he hoarded for Christmas, and the delirious joy he was sure she tasted on him.

She moved back and grasped his face with both hands, not letting him look away. Their stares locked and even in the dark he could see her stubbornness dancing like wild flames. “You’re irreplaceable Archie Andrews. When are you going to see your worth through my eyes? When are you going to realize that you’re the best thing that’s happened to me?”

His throat felt tight. Her hands weren’t squeezing the air out of him, but her words might as well have.

“I’m grateful for a lot of things in my life, but especially of having you as my best friend,” she continued.

He loved the way her body naturally melted into his. He loved it so much he almost forgot to reply.

After a beat, he touched his forehead with hers and deeply exhaled.

“It’s been an honour being your best friend. We should do it again sometime.”

“No,” she stated quickly. “Next time, we’re skipping past friendship and jumping into dating. That is, if we’re both single of course.”

“Of course,” he replied, internally wondering if he would simply break up with any future partner at the first sight of her. It was better to be safe than sorry, and he did not want to become a two-time cheater.

His mind short-circuited down another path.

The question slipped out before he could properly think about it. “Do you regret the kiss?”

“I regret hurting them.”

Betty peered into his eyes, and a wave of understanding flowed between them. Archie leaned down to nuzzle her neck.

When Archie would think back to that night, he’d remember the soft whispers of praises and sweet kisses that they shared under the stars right before he took her home.

He’d remember the blush on her cheeks as he kissed her hand and helped her out of his car.

He’d remember the way she looked so right in his jacket.

“Wait here,” he told her before she could step into her house.

A minute later he returned, clutching something in his fist. “Turn around.”

She did as he asked, and he slipped a necklace around her neck. Betty looked down and gasped at the small red ring clasped onto the thin band.

“You kept it?” She rotated around. “All this time?”

“You told me to ask you again when we’re eighteen,” he ruefully answered as he rested his forehead against hers. “Now, I’m not dumb enough to ask you to marry me, and I doubt the ring would still fit you, but there is one other thing I want to ask of you.”

Betty held her breath. Her hand reached up to dig into his hair, and she tightened her hold as his mouth searched for hers in the dark.

“Think of it as a promise ring,” he said after their lips pulled apart. “It symbolizes love. Patience. Commitment. But the only commitment I’m asking for is a phone call or letter every now and then and a promise to try to stay friends.”

He might as well have said “I’m terrified I’m losing you for good, Betty. Please take this as a token of our friendship and love so that there’s a chance that I don’t.”

She grasped both of his hands and smiled, shaking her head from left to right in frantic motions. “I can do better than that. We can do better, Arch.”

“I hope so.”

“We will.”

“I won’t hold it against you though if-”

Betty shut him up with another kiss.

* * *

When the day of graduation rolled around, Archie felt a little despondent.

As he walked across the stage he didn’t have his father hooping and hollering from the audience in the bleachers. He didn’t have Jughead and Veronica sending him a bright grin from behind the principle. He didn’t have plans to go to a celebration party afterwards.

This was his last day in Riverdale.

“Betty Cooper!”

And it was the last day he saw her.

She who met his eyes briefly as she walked to the line up of students who’d received their diplomas.

They hadn’t talked since that night, mutually and silently deciding that the end of this chapter had already closed. It was too painful to try to spend every minute together before they went their separate ways. Archie was never good at good-byes. A small part of him, the part that mourned his father’s sudden death, thought twice about pulling not only Betty, but also Jughead and Veronica to the side to say a few words.

But none of the three met his eyes again for the rest of the evening and Archie let his stomach sink into the floor as he walked away from the school.

* * *

He texted her three months later asking how the first week of classes were going. They chatted through texts for an hour.

She called a month later asking how he was doing. They talked until sunrise.

* * *

He didn’t date anyone else. He also didn’t have it in him to ask her if she was seeing someone.

* * *

He enrolled in community college near Riverdale two years later. The Naval Academy wasn’t fit for him after all.

He called to let her say the words, “I told you so.”

She made the words sound kind and helped him figure out what classes to take.

He knew then and there that they'd fulfill every promise they made to each other.

* * *

She came into Pops wearing a sleek blazer and knee-high boots. Her hair was longer, brushing against her elbows, free from a ponytail. She carried herself with confidence as she strode to their favourite booth and sat down across from him with an excited grin.

Betty had definitely changed.

And yet, his ring was around her neck.

Archie sighed in relief.

The first words out of her mouth were “You have something to ask me?”

It was more of a statement than a question. She didn’t hesitate for a second.

His heart leapt and danced and did somersaults as she playfully fiddled with her necklace.

“Betty Cooper-“

“Oooh, full names huh-“

“I can’t help but notice that you look fine-“

She laughed. “Just fine?”

“ _Mighty_ fine. I know we haven’t seen other for a long time but I was hoping that we could dine and-“

“Stop, stop, are you purposely trying to rhyme right now?” she exclaimed between her giggles.

He flushed. “Uh…no. I-I wasn’t…that…ugh, let me start over.”

She placed her hand over his. “Didn’t you have years to practice this, Arch?”

“Hey, I’d do a better job if you would stop interrupting me!”

Betty bit down on her lip to stop laughing. He took that as his cue.

“Betty Cooper, these past few years have made me realize just how much I need you in my life. You are without a doubt still my favourite person in the world, and now that you’re back in _this_ part of the world, would you finally do me the honour of going on a date?”

She slowly looked around the room. “Oh, you mean this isn’t a date?”

Archie froze. Her eyes twinkled with amusement as she gave his hand a squeeze. He unfroze and began to understand.

“Our first date was meant to be at Pops,” he guessed softly, his heart still doing somersaults in his chest.

“In our twenties after a rollercoaster of a ride to get here,” she added, nodding. “I think this was how it was always meant to be.”

Archie pondered on that. In the end, it didn’t matter. He was determined not to lose her ever again.

“I’m glad you’re home,” he said, giving into the temptation to hold her hand.

“I’m glad to be home,” she replied, smiling as he kissed her knuckles.

And the universe decided to give them a break.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First things first, I want to apologize for the long wait for this update. I have a dozen reasons why it took this long, but it doesn't matter now I suppose. 
> 
> The classic song from the car scene is Lovesong by The Cure. A barchie anthem, in my opinion.
> 
> Disclaimer that I should have put in each chapter maybe: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, songs, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author of this story. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any previously copyrighted material. No copyright infringement is intended. 
> 
> Moving on...Betty in this fanfic has blue eyes. I think she does in the comics as well. As for the fact that Riverdale Betty has green eyes and all the theories I read online about barchie not happening in season five... I pretend I do not see it.
> 
> If you made it all the way to the end of this story and note, thank you for reading! Please consider hitting the kudos button and commenting your thoughts on this chapter or what you're excited about seeing when the show returns =)
> 
> La Fin.


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